Aja Talks "Cobra" Manga Adaptation Status

Though mostly known for horror movies like "Piranha" and the upcoming "Horns", filmmaker Alexandre Aja's long gestating dream project is a film adaptation of the Japanese sci-fi manga series "Cobra" (aka. "Space Cobra").

Several years ago he and Gregory Levasseur were teaming up to pen a live-action adaptation, and Cinema Blend recently asked him at Comic Con how it was progressing. Turns out the budget is the problem:

"It's a huge, huge project. Super expensive. Like $150 million-plus. It can only be done with a major movie star and most of them are not available for like five years. So we're still working and trying to make it happen."

The manga, which has sold 30 million copies and was adapted to television in the early 80s, follows a bored office worker who pays to experience a customized dream. Though he asks to be the king of a harem, he gets thrusts into an adventure involving pirates, monsters and other dangerous scenarios.

Upon waking, he starts seeing people from his dream in real life and figures out what he was dreaming about was his real life and the customised dream procedure triggered his subconscious to regain access to the memories of his former life.